AHP COLLOQUIUM AT IIAS: 19th February, 2014

AHP COLLOQUIUM AT IIAS: 19th February, 2014
09 Dec

AHP COLLOQUIUM AT IIAS: 19th February, 2014

PAPER 1: EMATON AND THE BENIN KINGDOM: A BLACKSMITH’S TALE.
Abstract
For the euphoria of the ‘newly discovered’ bronze and ivory artifacts, from the royal court of Benin as a result of the 1897 British Punitive Expedition that sacked the then king of Benin, Oba Ovorami, Benin was placed on the mapamundia of world art and culture. Today, Benin is world famous for bronze and ivory artifacts. That some believe that bronze and ivory made Benin and brought the Kingdom to world fame. This paper was of the opinion that something else: iron, which the Edo call Ematon; (though scarcely mentioned in Benin literature), under the manipulation of Igun n’ Ugboha Benin blacksmiths, built the Benin kingdom and brought it fame. The paper therefore adopts object-centered method of art historical study, library sources, in-depth interviews coupled with Benin proverbs and participant observation to x-rays the application of ematon in the day-to-day living of the Edo people, their cultural practices and surviving artifacts to attempt a survey of the role Igun n’ Ugboha Benin blacksmiths and their Ematon products played in building the kingdom of Benin that was ousted by the British in 1987.
By
Harrie U. M. BAZUNU Ph.D.
Department of Fine and Applied Arts,
Delta State University Abraka, Nigeria.
PAPER 2: “RUN-AWAY” WIVES OF YORUBA CHIEFS: IN SEARCH OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM IN COLONIAL NIGERIA.
Abstract
The introduction of the Marriage Ordinance of 1884 radically affected the institution of marriage in traditional Yoruba societies. As a result of the introduction of the law, women began to take advantage of the Native Courts to apply for the dissolution of their marriages. Many of them also went ahead to remarry. Most badly hit by the divorce scourge were the traditional chiefs in the Oyo Division of colonial South-western Nigeria; whose wives ran away from their homes to protest and register their rejection of forced marriages. The actions of these ‘women of class’ not only threatened the chiefs’ authority but also their spirituality which, hitherto, were deeply venerated in pre-colonial Yorubaland. In their search for liberty and freedom, these women devised diverse strategies for their exit from the palaces. They took advantage of the more ‘superior’ powers of the colonial officials to opt out of ‘unhappy marriages.’ They did not go through their husbands who presided over the customary courts; instead they negotiated their exit through colonial officials. As they escaped from the palace, they legalised their running away by applying customary laws of returning the bride price to their husbands.
This work of gender history explores the narratives of “Run-away” wives of Yoruba chiefs in colonial south-western Nigeria. These were women who rebelled against traditional ruling structures and processes with the aid of modern instrumentalities. Common themes that emerged from their narratives were lack of care, forced marriages, inherited wives, development of affection for other men, barrenness, lack of cohabitation, and disagreement with co-wives. Some of the chiefs’ wives were affected by more than one of these issues. This work discusses in detail how they legalised their exit and the reason why running away was the viable option for them. It analyzes responses of the Yoruba society to the actions of the women, within the frameworks of patriarchy and modernity. The work concludes by affirming that the royal wives, with the help of colonial officials and modern laws began the process of deconstructing the norms of the Yoruba traditional institution in a definitive manner.
By:
OLUWAKEMI A. ADESINA, PH.D
Department Of History and International Studies,
Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria
Email: oluwakemiadesina@gmail.com